A beautiful alabaster tablet section, inscribed with six lines of finely carved characters in Assyrian cuneiform, from Ashurnasirpal’s palace at Nimrud. The walls of his extravagant palace were lined with brightly painted reliefs illustrating war, hunting and ceremonies. Across the reliefs ran a cuneiform inscription telling of Ashurnasirpal's victories and the founding of his new capital, and this its new palace. This inscription is now known as the "standard inscription" of Ashurnasirpal. This tablet is taken from a section of the ‘standard inscription’ which listed the lands conquered and describing how governors were appointed to rule the newly acquired regions. This fragment begins to recount the rebuilding of Kalhu (biblical Calah), the ancient name for Nimrud. The text is written in Assyrian cuneiform, the name itself literally meaning ‘wedge shaped’, a script which was gradually replaced by the Phoenician alphabet during the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-612 B.C.)

Published

Fine Antiquities, Christie’s, 13th & 14th December 1983, Lot 145.
Writing and Lettering in Antiquity, No X, Lot 16a, 16b, Charles Ede, 1984.

Provenance

Reputedly with Hagop Kevorkian in the 1970’s.
Sold at: Fine Antiquities, Christie’s, 13th & 14th December 1983.
With Charles Ede Ltd, acquired from the above sale.
Private Collection (accompanied by export license).
ARL: S00145000.

Sold